Birth Day

March 28, 2013 (26.5 weeks... based on July 1st delivery):

We spent the whole day gardening and weeding thistle on Saturday, we didn’t even end up making it out to our planned dinner with my friend Julia that evening. We did however use 5 items from our coop vegetable box in the meal I made for our dinner. Sunday we woke up and headed out for our hike along the ocean (something I have been greatly missing). Gus decided he wanted to bring me to a place that he used to climb at when he lived along the Russian River in Sonoma County instead of going to a place with lots of people. So we drove to Dry Creek Sea Crag by the mouth of the Russian River.

The smell of the ocean began to fill the air as soon as we started our drive along the river, and it grew stronger as we approached the west. The mist seeped slowly into the redwood groves as our truck hugged the corners of the winding road. I was happy that Gus and I had switched off driving because I was able to take in all of the surroundings. It reminded me of Humboldt County, but much warmer with more traffic. As we approached the ocean, the groves of trees faded to rolling ranches with healthy cattle snacking away at the green grasses. I long to be near the ocean all the time and I was so excited that we committed to taking a 2 hour drive just for a small hike. The dogs had their noses to the windows the whole time (when they weren’t falling over from the turns). The hike down was pretty steep but manageable, and as we neared the ocean the grass, lupine, and shrubs quickly became boulders and rocks for us to scramble over. We spent the rest of our “hike” exploring tide pools and getting our feet wet in the small breaks of the cold waves. In dog terms, that meant completely submerging themselves in the chilly pools of salty water.  There were sea lions barking from a rock a hundred yards out, sea anemones, mussels, hermit crabs, the ocean crashing into the rocks around us and even with all of the sounds there was a wonderful feeling of peacefulness. We had a great time and took a different driving route through Calistoga and Lake Berryessa back to change up the scenery.

The Monday’s doctor’s appointment was pretty standard, and I was happy to hear Sierra’s quickly beating heart again over the speaker. All vitals are normal and I am progressing along well. Of course, the doctor said, “Well you are heavier now than we would like to see you.”  (again) “And you might want to start watching what you are eating.” I decided I would respond today (since I had sufficient evidence to support my claim at this point). “So besides the first trimester when I had a big jump one month, I have consistently been gaining about 1 pound a week, right?” My doctor flips through the pages, “Oh, yes that does appear to be the case.” “So what exactly do you suggest I do at this point?” “Well, it seems like you could just keep up with the same then and you are pretty tall so gaining 36 pounds for your pregnancy should be okay for you it’s just over the 20-30 pound weight gain range that we would like.”  Ah ha. So now I know that essentially, I’m doing just fine.  He also mentioned that based on my last ultrasound it looks like July 1^st is probably when she will be making her big debut! I was given paperwork for gestational diabetes and CBC blood work to complete before our next appointment which is a month away. After that appointment I will be coming in every two weeks as my due date approaches (perfect timing since in a month my work schedule will begin to ease up).     

After work on Monday and Wednesday Gus and I did trail runs together at Pena Adobe, a place where we used to mountain bike together on the weekends. I feel so much better about prego life the more we do together outdoors. It just feels more normal for me, like I haven’t given up on my “old” self. Gus definitely has taken notice since I brought it up a few weeks ago and has made a real effort to do things with me (even go on runs instead of his regular mountain bike rides with his now very slow wife). It’s really important to me and it means a lot too. I feel lucky to have such a supportive partner through everything.

At the pool this week and in other places while I have been “out and about” I have started to see people checking out my prego belly in a way that suggests that the know I am prego. I especially notice the “older” generations because they usually look at my belly and then look at me with this oddly over-joyous smile. Either way it has been kind of nice. Otherwise, I have been counting down to my 30^th birthday on Friday, because we are flying out tonight to visit my best friend and her fiancée, Onkar, in Las Vegas for the weekend. Gus was putting in overtime every day last week and he really deserves an extended weekend too!

The approaching “big” 30^th birthday has been interesting for me as I am carrying around this kicking life inside of me. I realize how much the focus of my entire life is about to shift and how my birthday suddenly means less to me now than it has in previous years. Not that this will ever stop me from making it a special celebration (or as Gus jokingly calls it the week long festivities), I am just more excited about Sierra’s up and coming day of birth, when we finally get to meet the little one.  Speaking of birth days, my fears of “the pain” of delivery have finally subsided and truly so have my fears of being a parent during all of those “annoying” child ages (that I previously have associated with screaming, lawless kids in grocery stores and airplanes). I am finally coming to an awesome point where, “It’s all going to be okay.” Whatever unsubstantiated fear it is that comes up money, parenting, housing, schooling, day care, being a working mom… it will all work out and it will all be okay.

Here I am at 26 weeks pregnant and 21 pounds of pregnancy weight gain:

Gus looking out at the coast:

The dogs and I on the way back up after our hike:

The tide pools:

Oso kept drinking the salt water:

Keta, always keeping track of what’s going on EVERYWHERE:

Pain in the back

Sierra is around 13.5 inches long now and 1.5 pounds apparently! If we could see her, we would be able to see her hair color and texture. She is also putting fat on now too! My heartburn has gotten better this week, but my back pain is baaack. I usually pop it into place while sleeping (I should say half sleeping, because I always remember doing it in the middle of the night while turning onto my side) so the pain goes away, but sometimes it doesn't pop. So for a few days so I will have piriformis and low back pain on my left side. Nothing I am not used to having herniated disc from collegiate rowing gave me my fair share of sciatica. Luckily, Gus rubbed it out so it was loose enough to pop back into place last night. So back to normal for a while!

After going to the rowing race and the track meet, Gus picked me up with the dogs and we drove out past Auburn to go on a hike together. It was really nice (even though our feet fell through the snow a few times); it made me feel like the pre-pregnancy couple I used to know. Since becoming pregnant I have given up very important activities that we used to do together on a weekly basis (especially mountain biking). I have wanted to go outdoors and do something active with Gus, the way we used to. Well, it is nowhere near as hard core as what we used to do, but it was just nice to be outside away from people with him and the dogs again. Afterwards I threw on my borrowed maternity dress again and we headed to the Auburn Ale house for lunch. All of the IPA’s sure looked good… but alas I still have 15 more weeks. Our hang out with the prego married gang at Sudwerks on St. Patty’s Day turned out to be a blast too. We all talked about pregnancy stuff together, the excitements and fears of being parents for the first time and the guys all got along really well too.

The rest of the week has been full of kicking, kicking and more kicking. She is moving non-stop now! She moves a lot when Gus puts his hands on my belly, he has much warmer hands than I do. It really makes me feel like he is more connected to the process of her growth. I got my hair cut (once every 4.5 months) on Wednesday morning, as an early birthday gift to myself. My hair has to look good for my 30^th birthday when we go to visit Crystal and Onkar in Vegas! The rest of the weekly routine stayed the same except for the fact I am actually getting nervous about my doctor weigh-in. Is he going to tell me I am too heavy again… Argh… I don’t know why it bothers me, but being outside the “norm” for my pregnancy weight for the pregnancy week is irritating. My irritation mostly comes from my doctor’s comments. I didn’t think anything about my weight gain until he brought it up every time. Oh well, I gained another pound this week (which honestly seems normal) and I am now 20lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight at week 25.

A “family photo” in Auburn:

Me at 25 weeks: 

This weekend we'll be heading out to the Golden Gate Headlands for a hike on Sunday with the dogs (where we ran a trail half-marathon last year for Gus' birthday) and meeting up with our friend Julia for dinner on Saturday night :)

A Fine Tipping Point

March 14, 2013 (24 weeks … aka 6 months):

The week started off with our great trip to visit Gus’ mom, Jerry, and my good friend Meghan! It always feels like a real weekend when we get to visit them. We were welcomed with dinner and dessert when we got in the door just after 10pm. Anne also showed us the 2 cute little outfits she had bought for Sierra, along with wooden toy blocks. What a welcoming!? We were also given some of Lyndsey's old baby clothes (over 30 years old, but still in good shape). The dogs are always ecstatic to be back too! So we all felt relaxed upon arrival and quickly forgot about the drive down. 

The following morning Gus went mountain biking and I went on a trail run before we headed “in to town” to meet up with Meghan. She had picked up a few gifts for baby Sierra too! I believe the soft, plush, stuffed bunny rabbit will quickly become one of her favorites (it matched the ballerina bunny onesies she gave us too). We spent the day eating food, talking, laughing, and walking around Woodward Park. We all had a great time together, and it felt nice to reconnect after 2 years. Sunday was primarily dedicated to relaxing and spending time with the rents.  Anne showed me some fabrics and prints for blankets and quilts she will be making for Sierra that are adorable.

We also talked to the soon-to-be great grandma, and she told me, “You know, you just couldn’t have done anything to make us all more happy!” Wow, and we didn’t even mean to get pregnant! I can tell you this baby will have a lot of love given to her! Gus packed up the dresser and rocking chair along with the rest of our stuff and we headed back to Davis in the late afternoon. We unpacked and “completed” our nursery!!! Unfortunately, though, we lost an hour which always feels like a travesty to me… day light savings… why do we still do it?

Upon my arrival back to work on Monday morning I hopped on the scale… After doing that I have now decided you should never weigh yourself on Mondays… Thursdays and Fridays are much better assessments. Either way, I gained another pound… sitting pretty at a total of 19 pregnancy pounds now. Water retention and feeling more off balance are “relatively new” for me this week. My feet and legs swelled up a few times, but then I worked out and sweat a bunch so they returned to almost regular size. I also almost fell two times this week, not that this would be a new occurrence for me, but it was a distinct feeling of losing balance towards my very round and heavy belly. It's a very fine tipping point, which I only notice when I go to make a sudden movement.

On Wednesday I found a Bob “Ironman Brand” jogging stroller on craigslist.org and talked the sellers down to $125, it’s a burly jogger and looks like it can handle some rough terrain.  I also thought, “Well at least I can actually say I have done a full Ironman triathlon while jogging around with baby Sierra in this Ironman stroller.” Ha, not that I am anywhere near that shape now or will I be post-partum.  Otherwise, it was pretty much the hum-drum work week…run, lift, work, eat, sleep, and repeat. I must say, swimming seems much easier than my running is getting to be... this extra weight really changes things.

This weekend I have a list of events for all of the sports teams I coach, so I will be bouncing around most of Saturday cheering them all on (but more importantly seeing if there is an area we need to work on more for my programming).  On Sunday the pregnant ladies (Lisa, Beth, and I) are meeting up at Sudwerks brewery so all of our husbands can meet (they will be the ones drinking the green beers), which will be fun for all of us! 

Here's what the nursery looks like now. The quilt patch on the wall was made for Gus when he was a baby by his Grandma Mary Beth. 

The wooden blocks.

Me at 6 months preggers.

Hand-me-down Nursery

March 7, 2013 (23 weeks):

It goes without saying that I would be excited to hear that we could pick up the baby stuff from Gus’ colleague this weekend. Saturday we woke up early, made breakfast, and I headed to the dog park with Oso to meet Lyn. When I got back Gus and I decided it would be best to start all of our gardening plans before heading out to pick up all of the baby items. We went to the hardware store to pick up seeds, a few strawberry plants and other gardening supplies. We meandered around town for a little while and ended up at “Mother and Baby Source” where I was hoping to find a wide-brimmed hat for Sierra. I was able to use the coupon I had and was well-satisfied with the purchase of a great orange water friendly hat. I am sure she will be wearing it almost every day in the hot summers of Davis.

 Gus and I enjoyed our gardening for the rest of the day until it was time to pick up our items in Vacaville. I must say I was overjoyed at the amount of items we were given! A beautiful crib (which was oh so fun to put together), 2 mobiles, blankets, 3 different sized car seats, a high chair, slings, a few books, and a few other random goodies. I was able to take multiple items off of my baby registry! I felt SO lucky to be gifted by such generous people! Next weekend we will be headed to Gus’ mom’s house and bringing home a dresser and a rocking chair to complete the nursery! Here are the pictures of what our nearly completed nursery looks like so far:

This is a picture of the crib with the 2 mobiles attached (I am sure Sierra will like). The mattress holder has multiple settings for height, so we raised it to the top. The bassinet was a gift from my mother at Christmas and we just stuck it in there until we get a mattress. I attached the colorful paper cranes from tail to beak with needle and thread and strung them around the room. They were made for Gus’ uncle’s funeral and were given to us by his wife.

 This is where the changing table/dresser will be:

 

Our bookshelf has many baby books already as well as parent books in it with baby clothes we have been given on top.

Our new baby shelf in the pantry with our $3 SPCA Thrift store baby bath tub (normally $15-30 in a store).

 

Gus’ mom, Anne, was in town for an interview in Sacramento so we all ate dinner at Lyndsey’s house together on Monday night. The rest of the week was pretty routine, leading up to our trip down to the Fresno area. Another reason for our Fresno trip is that one of my good friends from NY is out there for a conference this weekend.  She will finally get to meet Gus, and we will get to spend Saturday with her.  A highlight of the week was hearing from a friend back in NJ who has 3 children (all cloth diapered) and she said she will be sending us some of her gently used cloth diapers! A nice surprise!

This is a picture of me at 23 weeks (just under an 18 pound total prego weight gain… those pull-ups aren’t getting any easier). This is the first week where I am starting to feel much larger and seriously pregnant (my belly button is moving to an outie).

My friend, Lisa (from high school), showed me this cute website for baby clothes, and I decided I will get a baby item for her baby shower and she can get one for mine! Clever way of not buying for yourself, but getting something anyhow! http://www.etsy.com/shop/squarepaisleydesign?page=1